The Presidential Daily Brief

intriguing

How Hollywood Feels if You’re Not White and Male

Mindy Kaling’s first “project” nearly starred a white actress; a casting director told Eva Longoria she needed darker skin and an accent; and The Wire’s Wendell Pierce was once told he couldn’t do Shakespeare because “they didn’t have Black people then.” With another whitewashed Academy Awards coming on Sunday, 27 female and minority actors have borne witness to the sort of discrimination that prompted this year’s #OscarsSoWhite backlash, and garnered the Academy’s vow to reform and better ensure Tinseltown’s gold is shared with stars of every color.